The Google Search experience remained relatively unchanged for decades, but the way you browse the web has been reimagined with AI updates such as AI Overviews, AI Mode, Circle to Search, and more. Now, Google is introducing a new way to search -- with your voice. 

Search Live 

On Wednesday, Google launched the Search Live with voice input experience in the Google app for both Android and iOS. With this experience, you can have a free-flowing conversation and get answers from an AI-generated voice as the app populates the relevant Search results for you in real time. This means if you want to learn more, you can by clicking the links on the screen, which will take you to the web, as seen below. 

Search Live works in the background, enabling you to carry out this conversation while using other apps, making it easier to multitask and get the information you need on the go. If you want to keep the conversation going via text, you can get a transcript of the conversation and ask follow-up questions. 

Also: Google's AI Mode may be the upgrade Search desperately needs - how to try it for free

Although this experience may seem reminiscent of the standard voice search experience that has been available in Google for some time, the difference is that, unlike outdated voice assistants -- which struggle to understand context and non-linear trains of thought -- Search Live uses AI to understand your conversational prompts. It can also have multi-turn conversations with you, and populate links in real-time, which the old version could not.

How to access

Search Live is part of AI Mode, so in order to access it, you have to be a US user enrolled in the AI Mode experiment in Labs. Signing up is free. All you need to do is sign in with your Google account after clickingthis link.

Then, to activate it, in the Google app, you will have the option to tap the new "Live" icon, located under the search bar, and ask a verbal question. Some Google examples of questions you can ask are "What are some tips for preventing a linen dress from wrinkling in a suitcase?" with a follow-up question like "What should I do if it still wrinkles?" 

Once you enroll, beyond Search Live, you will also have access to the traditional AI Mode search, which allows you to type in search queries using natural language instead of traditional keywords. It will also output search results conversationally -- basically an extension of AI Overviews -- so that you can spend less time looking through links and more time jumping into the content of the answer. 

Google also shared a camera feature that allows you to talk to Search in real time and show it the world around you for additional context and assistance. 

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